


Schedule Conflicts

by selfreliantscientist



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Carlos is a morning person, Cecil is a night owl, M/M, Neither one has much free time, Pre-Parade Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-16
Updated: 2014-05-16
Packaged: 2018-01-24 23:59:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1621706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/selfreliantscientist/pseuds/selfreliantscientist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos and Cecil try to make time for each other.</p>
<p>They have to break the rules a little to make it work, but it's not like time is even real, anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Schedule Conflicts

Cecil moved his lips over Carlos’ neck, pausing to feel the vibrations of an appreciative hum. Carlos’ eyes drifted shut as he relaxed into Cecil’s arms.

“That feels nice,” Carlos said. His arm, which had been occupied with gently stroking Cecil’s back, now settled at Cecil’s waist, holding him closer.

“Oh? And how does this feel?” Asked Cecil, parting his lips and allowing his tongue to tease just under Carlos’ jaw.

“Feels nice. Is what I said. Nice.” Mumbled Carlos. The arm around Cecil began to slacken. “Nice. ‘Sgood. A good word. To describe how I…” The caramel voice trailed off.

Cecil pulled back enough to look at Carlos’ face, just in time to see his head loll to one side for a moment, before it jerked back into place, eyes blinking back open.

“Carlos!” Declared Cecil. “You can’t fall asleep now! I’ve hardly seen you all day, I’ve been looking forward to this, I _need_ you to stay awake!”

“Sorry, Cecil,” said Carlos, stifling a yawn. “It’s just… been a long day. Lots of… science. Tired me out.”

Carlos pressed a kiss just where Cecil’s neck met his shoulder. That was more like it.

But then, instead of following up with more kisses, Carlos fell still, head resting against Cecil.

Cecil let out a frustrated sigh as he realized they weren’t going to get anywhere tonight. He settled down on the bed and pulled a blanket over himself and his boyfriend. “Goodnight, Carlos,” he said.

Carlos’ only response was to continue sleeping and looking beautiful.

\---

“Cecil! Wake up!”

Carlos shook Cecil by the shoulder, eliciting a groan in response.

“Gary’s gonna be here in twenty minutes. I was hoping to spend some of that time with you. You know. Intimately?” Carlos punctuated his question with a kiss. This, at least, got Cecil to open his eyes.

Cecil looked puzzled and sleepy and completely adorable as he stared blearily at Carlos. “Why’s Gary coming here?”

The question was nearly incoherent, but Carlos had gotten used to interpreting Cecil’s early-morning mumbles.

“To give me a ride to work. Because my car’s in the shop. You should know this, Cecil. We went over it yesterday, when you picked me up from the mechanic… and you’re not hearing a word I’m saying, are you?”

Silence answered the question.

Carlos left Cecil to his sleep.

\--

“I woke up and you were gone! Why didn’t you say goodbye when you left?”

Cecil was on the phone to Carlos, having called him as soon as he realized the scientist was no longer home.

“I did! You’re just impossible to wake up.”

Cecil harrumphed and said, “Well I hope your science is fascinating enough to make up for you having to leave me.”

“It is pretty fascinating stuff, Cecil. I’ve got a series of specimens from Radon Canyon, and I’m monitoring the temperature changes as I expose them to a variety of external factors. I haven’t found any correlations so far, but with more data points some patterns might start to emerge.”

Still groggy from waking up, Cecil let the words wash over him. He loved hearing Carlos talk about science. That beautiful voice could say such smart things. Cecil didn’t follow the meaning most of the time, but that was irrelevant.

“Tell me more about science,” said Cecil, lying back on the bed.

“Well, we’ve been measuring photon emissions from the Glow Cloud. Some of the light is outside the spectrum of human vision, though we’ve yet to explain the apparent difference between individual accounts of its appearance. We’ve got five different sensors around Night Vale, and they’re all giving different readouts, which indicates that different wavelengths of light may be emitted in different directions.”

“Mm-hm,” Cecil hummed. The hand that wasn’t occupied with holding the phone to his ear drifted down to the front of his pajama pants. Carlos wasn’t there with him, but his caramel voice was talking about science, and the dashed hopes of last night were still on Cecil’s mind.

“The difficulty is that, since time doesn’t work in Night Vale, it’s difficult to determine if the signals we’re receiving are simultaneous or not. Susan’s working on an algorithm to have the computers sort through the data for us… Oh, I’m sorry, Cecil, I’ve got to go!”

“What?” Cecil froze, his hand still only lightly touching his form.

“Harry’s in some sort of trouble with the tarantulas. I’ll see you tonight. Bye Cecil. I love you!”

“Carlos!”

Cecil’s protest came at the precise moment his phone chimed to indicate that he had been disconnected. He dropped the phone next to him and made a “blerg” sound. He was disappointed and frustrated and now he didn’t even have Carlos’ voice to keep him company.

Today was already shaping up to be a bad day.

\---

So as not to inconvenience the other scientists, Carlos stayed late at the lab, and Cecil came over to pick him up once the show was done. Cecil found Carlos asleep in his chair, the nearby radio playing whalesong to him.

“Time to go, Carlos.”

The scientist stirred, sat up straight and stretched his arms. “Cecil. I missed the end of your show…”

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s get you home.” Cecil held out a hand and helped Carlos to his feet. Arm in arm, they walked out to Cecil’s car. Carlos blearily turned off the lights and locked the door.

Carlos nodded off during the short drive home, though he managed to wake himself enough to walk to the front door without assistance.

“Look at you,” said Cecil. “You can barely stay awake, poor thing.”

“I can try,” said Carlos as they walked inside. “I know you want to-” he cut himself off with a yawn.

“I want to see my boyfriend get a good night’s sleep.” Cecil kissed Carlos on the cheek. “Go to bed, Carlos. Take care of yourself, okay?”

“Okay,” Carlos mumbled, before stumbling down the hall and collapsing onto the bed.

\---

The next day, Cecil woke up to find a post-it note stuck to his head. It said, in municipally-approved non-pen, “Good morning sleepyhead! My car’s supposed to be ready today so I should be able to get home on my own. xoxo Carlos”

Cecil smiled at the note, though he did wish that one of these days he would wake up in time to see Carlos before he left for the lab.

\---

“Hi Cecil!”

“Carlos! What are you doing at the station?”

“I got my car back. They’re not expecting me back at the lab for another hour.” Carlos stepped into Cecil’s little office, shutting the door behind him.

“Oh really? And what were you planning to do in my office for an hour?” A sly smile spread across Cecil’s face.

“Why don’t you see if you can figure it out?”

Carlos took hold of Cecil’s tie and gently pulled him into a kiss.

“Hm. Looks like it’ll be something that would be completely inappropriate to share with my radio audience,” said Cecil once they drew back.

“Why, Mr. Palmer!” Declared Carlos, holding a hand to his chest in mock outrage even as he settled onto Cecil’s lap, “What kind of a boy do you think I am?”

“The kind my mother warned me about,” said Cecil, grinning.

Carlos grinned back, leaning his forehead against Cecil’s as he said “You’ve got that right.” His hand reached for Cecil’s tie again, this time loosening it, and finding the hidden shirt button underneath.

The button came undone, but just as Carlos was leaning down to kiss or lick or otherwise lavish attention on Cecil’s gorgeous neck, he heard the door opening behind him.

“I could’ve sworn I locked that,” Carlos said.

“Oh, they, uh, disabled the locks,” Cecil told him. “For our safety,” he added, looking over Carlos’ shoulder at their intruder, his new manager, Lauren.

“Hello, Carlos,” said Lauren, as Carlos turned to face her. “It’s a pleasure to see you. However, your presence here is in violation of company policy. Unauthorized personnel are not permitted on-premise during work hours. Since Mr. Palmer is such a valued and respected employee, and since this is the first transgression, I will not have security remove you from the building. However, I must insist that I personally supervise your presence here for as long as it lasts.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” said Carlos, standing up. “Since when do you not allow visitors?”

“Uh, since about the same time they disabled the locks,” Cecil answered. He quickly refastened his shirt collar and fixed his tie. Taking Carlos’ hand in his own, he said, “I’m sorry about this.”

Though the statement was directed at Carlos, Lauren replied. “Don’t worry about it, Cecil. I’m certain Carlos will respect company policy, now that he’s been made aware of it. Now, aren’t you just filled with gratitude at the leniency StrexCorp is showing by allowing your boyfriend to stay?”

“Um, actually,” Carlos said, “I should probably be getting back to the lab.” He kissed Cecil on the cheek. “I’ll see you… sometime.”

_Sometime_ turned out to be two days later, during Carlos’ lunch break. Normally he ate at the lab, but once a week he and the rest of the scientists made sure to get their municipally mandated meal at Big Rico’s. The plan today was for Cecil to join them for lunch. It wouldn’t be a real date, but Cecil and Carlos would get to eat together, so that was something.

“Hi Carlos, I’m so sorry I’m not there already. I overslept and now I’m stuck behind this truck on Ouroboros Road. I’ll get there as soon as I can, okay?”

“Hi Carlos! I took an alternate route but it turns out a portion of Summerset is under construction, which means it doesn’t actually exist at the moment, so I wound up in a whole line of cars and by the time I realized the detour was going around Radon Canyon I was past all the turnaround spots. I’m on my way back into Night Vale now but I wanted to let you know.”

“Carlos, tell me you didn’t forget your phone in the lab again. The Sheriff’s Secret Police stopped me for a random wheat and wheat by-products inspection, but thankfully, as I am a model citizen, they found nothing amiss. I should be at Big Rico’s any minute now. Please don’t be mad.”

By the time Cecil arrived at Big Rico’s, the other scientists had left. Carlos was sitting by himself, at a booth, watching the door. When Cecil walked through it he jumped out of his seat and ran to greet the radio host with a hug. “I’m sorry I didn’t pick up when you called,” said Carlos. “I didn’t hear my phone ring over the droning.” He inclined his head subtly toward a table occupied by hooded figures. Cecil did notice a low drone coming from that general direction. “It was worse when the restaurant was more crowded,” Carlos whispered.

“That tends to be the case,” Cecil acknowledged, being careful not to look directly at the hooded figures.

The couple sat down at their booth, where a slice of pepperoni waited for Cecil. “I hope it’s okay that I went ahead and ate,” said Carlos. “It’s just, I’ve got this experiment that I really need to check on in a few minutes, and I didn’t want to-”

“Of course it’s okay,” Cecil interrupted, speaking around a mouthful of pizza. “I really didn’t expect you to wait for me.”

Carlos sighed. “It just would’ve been nice, to eat together, for once.”

“Yeah,” said Cecil. “It would have.”

For a moment they sat in companionable silence, Carlos holding the hand that Cecil was not using to hold his pizza. Under the table, their feet brushed against one another.

“Rico’s getting better at making this gluten-free pizza,” Cecil observed.

Carlos opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by his phone emitting an ear-piercing shriek. He quickly silenced the phone, and said, “I’m sorry Cecil but I’ve gotta run. This experiment will literally explode if I’m not there.” He leapt out of his seat, leaned down, and kissed Cecil. The kiss tasted of grease and tomato sauce, and was far too passionate for such a public location, but it was the best they could manage for now. “I love you,” Carlos said.

And then he disappeared, leaving Cecil to murmur a surprised “I love you too” into the air of Big Rico’s.

\---

Carlos awoke and got dressed in an empty house. Cecil had been working all night, covering the emergency paper airplane situation.

Though he would never admit as much, Carlos enjoyed having Cecil out of the house while he got ready. It meant he didn’t have to worry about making too much noise, and he could sneak a glance at his secret mirror. Cecil had good reason to avoid the things, but Carlos couldn’t maintain his perfect hair without giving it a critical look every once in a while.

He was just opening the box labeled “Confidential Research Notes” when he heard the front door unlock. Quickly, he closed the box again and shoved it back in its desk drawer as Cecil walked in.

“You’re home! Is the crisis over?”

“Yep! A freak rainstorm caused the paper to dissolve about half an hour ago. Or weren’t you listening?”

“I had to turn the radio off to get some sleep. But I’m glad the danger’s over.”

“Oh?” Asked Cecil, crossing to where Carlos stood in their living room. “Is that all you’re glad about?”

“Okay, _maybe_ I’m also glad to see you.”

“So you should be.” Cecil tangled one hand in Carlos’ hair and wrapped the other arm around his waist, pulling him in for a slow, soft kiss.

When they parted, Carlos asked “Do you need to get to sleep? I know you’ve been up all night…”

“No,” said Cecil. “I’m actually still pretty buzzed from caffeine.” He grinned. “Do you want to help me work it out of my system? Or,” he added, face falling, “Do you need to get to the lab?”

“You know what?” Said Carlos, wrapping his arms around Cecil and holding him close, “I can be late for once.”

The grin reappeared on Cecil’s face as he pushed Carlos onto the couch and began pulling off the clothes that had been put on just a few minutes prior. The lab coat wound up on the floor, and half of his shirt buttons were undone by the time someone knocked on the door.

They paused, both looking at the door, wondering if they should get up and answer it or just pretend they couldn’t hear.

There came another knock, louder, and this time Gary’s voice called out “Carlos! Are you home?”

Cecil slid off of the scientist and, being the more presentable at the moment, opened the door.

“Cecil! Is Carlos here? He was supposed to be at work early today, but we haven’t heard from him.”

“Oh shit, that was today?” Carlos grabbed his labcoat off the floor and flung it on. “I’m sorry, Cecil,” he said, hurriedly doing up his shirt buttons, “There’s this conference call with our funders and they’re over on the East Coast so midmorning for them is super early for us and it totally slipped my mind and I’ll make this up to you somehow okay?”

“Oh god I’m interrupting something aren’t I?” Said Gary.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Carlos, “It seems interrupting us has become Night Vale’s favorite pastime.”

\---

Carlos and Cecil both had stressful, important jobs. There were days when one or both of them would come home exhausted and want nothing more than to relax in the gentle embrace of a loved one. There were days when one or both of them would be unable to break away from his job. Then there were the days when one would come home exhausted and looking for comfort, and the other was stuck working. Those days were the worst.

For over a week, they’d been trying to make time for each other, and failing. They tried to be accepting, and loving, and kind, but their nerves were getting frayed. Conversations between the two of them were tense, peppered with insinuations about which of them wasn’t putting in the effort to be there for the other.

The other scientists started to avoid Carlos as much as possible. He’d started responding to almost every interruption with a scowl, spitting out the word _“What?”_ anytime someone approached him.

Their funding was in jeopardy, and Carlos was the one who had to figure out how to keep them all employed, or failing that, which of them to fire. It was an unenviable position, and it turned Carlos into someone that _no one_ wanted to piss off.

Cecil, meanwhile, was doing everything he could to keep his increasing frustration out of his broadcasts. Off the air, though, the radio station staff took the brunt of it. His last words to one intern were “Just get in the damn hole so I can tell the audience how deep it is!” regarding the appearance of what turned out to be a bottomless pit in Mission Grove Park. He regretted an intern’s service ending on such an unpleasant and angry note.

Lauren became more irritating every day. Cecil knew better than to snap at her; personal conflicts weren’t worth further jeopardizing his relationship with StrexCorp. So every time they spoke he forced himself to smile, and to agree with everything she said. It got harder every time.

He had trouble keeping his mind on his work. His thoughts drifted while an intern told him about the mayor’s press conference that morning. He needed a day off. He needed some time with Carlos. Ideally, some intimate time with Carlos.

There had to be _something_ he could do.

\---

Carlos didn’t bother trying to wake Cecil. He got out of bed, ate, dressed, brushed his teeth as if moving through a script, and headed to the lab without the energy to feel either enthusiasm or resentment.

He did feel mild surprise, as he drove through town without encountering a single other car on the roads. He’d have to ask the other scientists if their morning commutes were equally devoid of traffic. Maybe check with Cecil to see if Street Cleaning Day or some other catastrophe was keeping all the sensible residents at home.

No one else was at the lab when Carlos arrived. He often showed up before anyone else, so he didn’t think anything of it, sitting down at a bench and recording observations about the samples that had been left overnight.

Half an hour later, when the other scientists had yet to appear, Carlos began to worry. Gary didn’t answer his phone, nor did anyone else on their team. By the time Carlos called Cecil, he was in a panic.

“H’lo?” Came Cecil’s sleepy voice through Carlos’ phone.

“Oh thank god, Cecil, you’re okay,” said Carlos. “I haven’t seen anyone since I left the house this morning and none of the scientists are returning my calls and-”

“Oh,” said Cecil, sounding more awake now. “I’m sorry, Carlos. I should have warned you. It’s Thursday.”

“Um. Okay. Is… Is there something I’m supposed to know about Thursday?”

“You didn’t listen to the community calendar this week, did you?” Cecil said in a mocking tone.

“I listened to it! I just… didn’t commit every part of it to memory.”

“Thursday was canceled this week, Carlos.”

“But you said today is Thursday.”

“It is.”

“Cecil. If Thursday was canceled then shouldn’t we just go straight from Wednesday to Friday?”

“Well,” said Cecil, “That’s what will happen for everyone else.”

“So why are we different?”

“Because I applied for an exemption from the city council. Thursday is still canceled for everyone else. Just not for us. Just think, Carlos. We have the _whole day_ to ourselves.”

“The whole day?” Carlos repeated, bewildered. “That sounds almost too good to be true.”

“Mm. It _does,_ doesn’t it?”

“So, um, I guess I should come home now?”

“You bet you should. Because do you know what’s going to happen when you get here?”

“What?”

“I’m going to throw you onto the bed and tear all of your clothes off, to start. God, I can’t even _remember_ the last time I saw you naked. I bet I’ve forgotten most of the details. I’ll get to be pleasantly surprised by everything all over again. I’m going to run my hands all over every part of you, reacquainting myself with your form.”

As Cecil spoke, Carlos stroked his free hand along his torso, picturing Cecil doing what he described.

“I’ll take my sweet time before I slip my fingers inside you. It’s been such a long time since we’ve done this. I bet you’ll be tight for me, won’t you, Carlos? I’ll have be so careful today, stretching you open all over again.”

Carlos brushed his hand against the front of his pants, and moaned “Oh god yes” into the phone.

“Now, Carlos, are you touching yourself while listening to me?” Asked Cecil in a mockingly stern voice.

“Uh, yeah.” Carlos admitted. “Please, just keep talking, Cecil.”

“Nuh-uh. Wasting valuable time on phone sex when we _could_ be making physical contact. The very idea. No, Carlos, I’m afraid that if you want anything more from me you’re just going to have to get your ass back here so I can give it to you.” With that, Cecil ended the call.

Carlos didn’t think he’d ever driven as fast as he did then.

“I’m home, Cecil. Now how about- oomph!”

As soon as Carlos shut the door behind him, Cecil pushed him back and pinned him against it. Their bodies became enmeshed, mouths meeting in a desperate kiss as Cecil slipped his hands beneath Carlos’ labcoat, and his leg between Carlos’ thighs. When Cecil broke the kiss to nibble at his boyfriend’s ear, Carlos said, “I thought you said you were going to throw me onto the bed?”

“I could do that now,” Cecil whispered. “If you really want. Do you want me to stop doing _this_?” He pressed himself against Carlos, grinding his thigh where he could feel Carlos’ growing reaction to the onslaught of affection.

“Ah! No. No, keep… keep doing that. Please,” said Carlos, rocking his hips against Cecil. Slowly, tantalizingly, he slid back and forth, such a short distance but at the same time so intense. Each movement of his own was matched by one of Cecil’s, pressing them inexorably closer.

“That’s what I thought.” Cecil’s hands traveled downward, finding Carlos’ buttocks and squeezing, holding the scientist exactly where Cecil wanted him.

Carlos whimpered as Cecil ground into him, whispering sweet nothings and litanies of praise. “I’ve missed you so much,” Cecil said, digging his nose into Carlos’ hair. “Missed feeling you. Missed smelling you… Praise the beams, Carlos, I tried using your shampoo for my own hair but it just doesn’t smell right on me.”

“M-maybe there’s a… a catalyst, or an enzyme, that I secrete… I could do some tests, if you want.”

Cecil hummed. “Scientific tests?”

“Yes!” Carlos squeaked, though whether in response to the question or to the way Cecil writhed against him wasn’t clear.

“That sounds lovely,” said Cecil. He followed up the statement by flicking his tongue into Carlos’ ear. The scientist groaned.

“Cecil,” he panted, “I’m gonna-”

“Go ahead.”

Carlos tightened his arms around Cecil as he thrust, more and more haltingly, against the leg that remained solidly between his own. He came with his head buried in Cecil’s shoulder, while Cecil cooed about how perfect and wonderful he was and how much he’d been looking forward to this.

“Thank you,” gasped Carlos, as he regained his breath. He tried to settle his weight back on his own two feet, but Cecil shook his head.

“None of that.” Cecil lifted Carlos and carried him to their bedroom as a groom might a bride. He lowered the scientist onto the sheets before curling up beside him.

“This isn’t exactly what you promised on the phone,” Carlos chided.

“Are you complaining?”

“Not at all.”

“Good. I was hoping I could surprise you.” A yawn escaped from Cecil’s lips.

“Worn out already?” Teased Carlos.

“It’s still early, Carlos,” said Cecil. “Much too early, really.” He wrapped an arm around Carlos and added, “Do you think you could take a nap?”

Carlos hummed. “I can try,” he said, cuddling up to Cecil and feeling the post-orgasmic hormones relaxing his body. “And make it up to you later?”

“Oh, yes,” said Cecil, “I certainly expect you to.”

Cecil drifted off with Carlos’ head on his chest. Though Carlos dozed lightly for a few minutes, he didn’t manage to really fall asleep. He’d been too wide awake earlier, and his work clothes weren’t exactly comfortable to sleep in. Less so now than they were usually. As the afterglow faded, he became more aware of the stiffness of his jeans and the solidifying stickiness of his ejaculate. After half an hour, he woke Cecil up.

“I could really use a shower,” Carlos explained. Seeing Cecil’s mix of irritation and confusion at being woken just to hear this information, Carlos added, “Join me?”

Showering was all about the physical sensations. The textured, slip-resistant ceramic under their feet, the warm water pounding against them and dripping down their bodies, the friction of skin against skin. The comparative coolness of the ceramic tiles against Carlos’ chest.

“You’re spoiling me,” said Carlos as Cecil slid his hands over his back.

“Oh, no, Carlos. You deserve far more than what I can give you.” Cecil grabbed their shower lube from its shelf. It was the same product that they used elsewhere, but this particular bottle never left the shower, so that they’d never have to run out of the bathroom, wet and slippery, to retrieve it. They always made sure to keep it in the same spot, separate from the shampoo and body wash to avoid careless mistakes.

Cecil spread a dollop of the lubricant on his fingers, shielding that hand from the water as he slipped it into the cleft of Carlos’ ass. “The only one I’m spoiling today is me,” he said, as Carlos began to press back against him, bringing his anus closer to Cecil’s probing fingers.

Soon Carlos was squirming as Cecil’s fingers wiggled and twitched inside him. “Oh, Carlos,” Cecil moaned, sounding for all the world as if he were the one whose sensitive interior were being stimulated. “Are you ready for me? I’m _aching_ with how badly I need you. Is this enough?” He asked, spreading his fingers and stretching Carlos, who shuddered.

“Y-yeah,” said Carlos. “I’m ready. Just… take it slowly, okay?”

“Of course.” Cecil’s voice was breathy against Carlos’ ear as he removed his hand from those inner recesses and picked up the bottle once again. He stroked his penis to coat it from base to tip, gasping at the sensation as he did so, then guided himself into Carlos, taking his time, letting himself be drawn in gently. “How does that feel?”

Carlos rested his forehead against the wet tiles. “So good, Cecil. So good. Um… can you, do you think you could, um, angle a little more to the left?”

“Like this?” Cecil angled his hips slightly, and Carlos yelped.

“Yes! Like that, just like that. Oh god,” said Carlos. “That’s perfect.”

“You’re the one who’s perfect,” said Cecil, nuzzling the back of Carlos’ neck. He pulled slightly back before pressing further into Carlos, smiling as Carlos yelped again, though more quietly this time. “I love your hair when it’s wet,” he said as he turned to let said hair brush against his cheek. “And when it’s dry, but there’s something so beautiful in the shapes of your wet hair… water cascading from each lock like it could carry the beauty of your hair out into the world.”

Carlos hummed, and pressed back against Cecil, who realized that, once again, he was letting his awe of Carlos’ perfection distract him from the task at hand. It was one thing when the thought of Carlos distracted him from reading the news, but it was quite a different issue when the thought of Carlos distracted him from making love to Carlos.

Cecil stopped himself from talking, focusing on the feeling of Carlos around him and in front of him. He made languid motions, letting his hands explore Carlos’ exterior while other parts explored his interior. Tension built slowly, until all at once, it snapped.

“Carlos!” Cecil cried, as Carlos felt him stutter and release inside him. Carlos moaned at the sensation.

“Cecil,” he answered.

They stood still, Cecil catching his breath as the water continued to pour onto and around them. The water had cooled down a little, and Carlos reached over to the knobs, adjusting the temperature until it was warmer again.

“How are you doing?” Carlos asked, turning around to hold Cecil.

“Fantastic,” Cecil replied, leaning in for a soft kiss. When Carlos’s body was flush with his, he grinned against Carlos’ mouth. “It seems like you could use a little help though.” He reached down to run a finger tantalizingly along the length of Carlos’ penis.

Carlos let out a huff of air. “I guess. Are you willing to help me?”

“It would be my pleasure,” purred Cecil, wrapping his hand around the base of Carlos’ shaft and pulling, loosening the pressure as his hand slid closer to the end. His other hand traveled to Carlos’ scrotum, lightly stroking the soft folds of flesh, in contrast to the hard pumps of the first hand. Carlos squirmed and clung to Cecil, arms tightening around his lover with every stroke of Cecil’s delicate but insistent fingers.

“Look at you, Carlos. You’re so beautiful. I love seeing my hands on you like this… I love feeling you, so tense, so hard for me. No matter how many times I do this, I can’t tear my eyes away…”

“God. Cecil.” Carlos put a hand under Cecil’s chin, lifting his face so that Carlos could kiss him. A moment later, Carlos was coming, falling apart under the ministrations of Cecil’s hands on his genitals and Cecil’s tongue in his mouth. Cecil hummed in contentment, and Carlos could feel the sound reverberating throughout his entire body.

The kiss went on, Cecil wrapping his arms around Carlos. They stood, less flush than they had been previously, but nonetheless close, feeling the beat of one another’s hearts and the increasingly steady rhythm of their breath. At last, Carlos pulled his head away from Cecil’s. “The water’s getting cold,” he said, reaching out to turn off the flow.

“You didn’t get to wash your hair,” said Cecil.

“That’s okay. I took care of it before I left this morning.” Carlos stepped out of the shower and handed a towel to Cecil before grabbing one for himself. “Right now I was more concerned with other parts of me that needed washing.”

Cecil laughed, then said, “I think I could do with some breakfast. What about you?”

“Well, it’ll be lunch for me, but… yeah. Let’s eat.” Carlos looked out from the towel that he was currently rubbing against his hair, and winked. “We’re gonna need something to keep our energy up.”

The day went on. They spent almost the whole time in each other’s arms, taking breaks for food or to use the bathroom as required. They never once missed the other Night Vale inhabitants. In fact, they hardly noticed that anyone was gone. There was no need to leave their home. Everything they could want was already there.

“Yes! Carlos! Like that. Perfect!”

It was late. Cecil sat with his back resting against the headboard, Carlos hunched between his legs. While that perfect, square-jawed mouth enveloped as much of him as would fit, Cecil tangled one hand in those gorgeous locks. He didn’t guide or direct Carlos, at least not intentionally; he merely enjoyed the sensation of silky strands of hair between his fingers. Every once in a while, the ends of Carlos’ hair would brush against his thigh or belly, tickling him delightfully.

“Ah!”

While it wasn’t Cecil’s _intention_ to provide direction to Carlos, occasionally a movement of his head or a lap of his tongue would feel so good that he couldn’t help but tighten his grip. Carlos had learned early on in their relationship that if something made Cecil pull harder on his hair, it was something to keep doing.

It hadn’t taken long at all for Carlos to learn how to play Cecil like an instrument, giving him everything he liked best and expertly reading the signals to see what was working and what wasn’t. Today, that meant he had Cecil halfway into his mouth, while he flattened his tongue and drew it from one side to the other. He didn’t pull off until he’d pushed Cecil to orgasm and beyond, swallowing everything he could stop from leaking out of his mouth.

“So perfect, Carlos. So perfect.”

Cecil held him, afterwards, licking the mess off of his face and telling him how beautiful he was, how amazing that had felt, before asking if Carlos would like him to return the favor.

“Actually, Cecil, I’m getting pretty tired. It’s later than I usually stay up… or at least, it would be, if time were real and today existed, but still, I think I…” He yawned. “I should get to sleep.”

“Okay, my sweet, beautiful, perfect scientist. If you insist. Lie down.” Cecil got up to turn the lights off, and then made sure Carlos was comfortably tucked in with the right amount of blankets before curling up next to him.

Carlos was asleep before Cecil could wish him good night.

\---

“Good morning, Gary!”

Carlos was at the lab bright and early. He was already finishing up his first round of experiments when the other scientists began to arrive.

Gary, halfway to the tarantula tank, paused and blinked at Carlos. “Good morning.” From the way Carlos had greeted him the past few mornings… with a scowl, and maybe a comment about some experiment that required urgent attention, this was a drastic change.

He stood where he was, watching Carlos, who smiled and cleared equipment out of the way. Upon seeing the little dance that Carlos decided was the perfect step for putting beakers in the correct spots on their shelf, Gary realized he had to say something. An outbreak of disco fever had claimed more than a dozen lives a few months back. “What’s got you in such a good mood?”

“Oh, just… yesterday was a good day.” Carlos gave a shy smile as he rinsed out a petri dish.

“Yesterday.” Said Gary.

“Uh-huh.”

“When the tank full of piranhas exploded?”

“Oh,” said Carlos, a ponderous look on his face. “I guess it wasn’t such a great day now that I think about it.”

“That was certainly the impression that I had.”

“But!” Carlos shrugged. “I feel better about today. I don’t know. Something… something just tells me things are gonna be okay, you know?”

At that moment, Susan walked into the lab. Her skin was colorless, her normally curly hair lying flat against her scalp. “Hey guys,” she said.

Gary immediately forgot to be worried about Carlos while they set about trying to diagnose and cure their team member.

\---

“It’s a beautiful day, listeners. I mean, sure, there’s that gray mist that seems to be coating everything and robbing it of all color, and all people of any emotion or sense of personal meaning, but isn’t that, in its own way, beautiful? I think most of you will agree. And those who disagree, well, maybe that’s because the gray mist has robbed you of your ability to experience beauty. I’m sure that, once it wears off, you’ll see things as I do.”

Cecil’s attitude at work improved so much that Lauren stopped by during the weather to thank him for embracing StrexCorp’s positive outlook, and to invite him to a seminar regarding the Smiling God’s plans for His subjects. Cecil gracefully declined, citing his busy schedule and his many commitments outside of work, but he was glad that, for the moment, StrexCorp believed him to be on their side.

Sometimes, a short amount of time spent with a loved one made all the difference in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first real attempt at writing porn. It was more difficult than I thought it would be, and I thought it would be pretty damn difficult. But it's done now, and it was a learning experience, and I may or may not try again at some point in the future.


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